Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Shri Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry addressedthe Media in Ekta Nagar , Gujarat on July 10th, 2023, the first day of 3rd Trade and Investment Working Group  Meeting July 11th, 2023
The 3rd TIWG Meeting has begun in Ekta Nagar , Gujarat. During this three-day meeting, more than 75 delegates from G20 member countries, invitee countries, regional groupings and international organisations will focus on building consensus on global trade and investment-related issues, along with accomplishing action-oriented proposals put forward by the Indian Presidency.
While addressing the media on July 10th, the first day of 3rd TIWG,Shri Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Department of Commerce, spoke about the importance of building a robust digital infrastructure, and why there is a need to integrate Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises  with the Global Value Chains .“MSMEs contribute around 50% to the global GDP, thus it is imperative for the world to collectively build an efficient ecosystem to effectively link MSMEs with GVCs. The world wants to invest in India, and India’s G20 Presidency will assist in strengthening trade corridors here,” said Shri Barthwal.He emphasised on the importance of digital infrastructure that India has created in the last few years, enabling communities from the remotest corners of the country to showcase their unique products on a global platform and receive value appreciation in return.
During the 1st and 2nd TIWG meetings, five Priority Issues , namely Trade for Growth and Prosperity, Resilient Trade and GVCs, Integrating MSMEs in World Trade, Logistics for Trade and WTO Reforms were extensively discussed among the G20 member/invitee countries.In addition, Knowledge Partners made presentations during these meetings, outlining each of the subjects and outcomes emerging from them. Based on the opinions/suggestions expressed by the G20 member/invite countries in these discussions, Indian Presidency has formulated action-oriented concrete proposals on each of the priority issues. These proposals relate to developing High-Level Principles for Digitalization of Trade Documents, Action Plan to Create Meta Information Interface for MSMEs, Generic mapping framework for GVCs, G20 Regulatory Dialogue and preparing a Compendium on best practices for Mutual Recognition Agreements . In this backdrop, during the 3rd meeting, the Presidency is now striving to build consensus among the G20 member countries for eventual adoption of these proposals.
Today and on July 12th, technical sessions will be conducted during which specific inputs/comments of the G20 member/invitee countries will be solicited on the Presidency’s proposals. These inputs will be suitably incorporated while drafting the Ministerial Communique that will be adopted during the G20 TIWG meeting, scheduled in Jaipur on August 24th and 25th, 2023.
The outcomes from the 3rdTIWG meeting would pave the way for building trusted collaboration and understanding of the challenges being faced by the world in accelerating global trade and investment. It will also assist in developing tools that could leverage existing opportunities to make growth inclusive and transparent, resonating with Indian Presidency’s G20 theme—VasudhaivaKutumbakam.